The relationship among child resilient attributes, acculturation, bilingualism, and social competence of Hispanic American preschool children
Abstract
Hispanic Americans are one of the fastest growing populations in the United States who are faced with many adversities such as poverty, discrimination, acculturative stress, and academic failure. This is the first study to examine resilience among economically-disadvantaged Hispanic American preschool children. This study combines cognitive (i.e., intelligence), psychosocial (i.e., inhibition, activity level, negative emotionality, emotion regulation, autonomy), and cultural-linguistic (i.e., level of acculturation and bilingualism) factors to determine resilience among economically-disadvantaged Hispanic American preschool children as gauged by social competence during peer play. Participants comprised of 207 4- to 5-year-old Hispanic American children from 50 classrooms in 2 early childhood centers at an urban public school district. Individual assessments, parent ratings, and teacher behavior ratings were collected for each participant. Findings from variable-oriented analyses indicated that cognitive ability, language skills (English and Spanish), temperament factors, emotion regulation, and autonomy were related to social competence during play. Level of acculturation was not significantly related to social competence. Person-oriented analysis yielded 6 distinct profiles, 2 profiles of which were well-adjusted and socially competent and a profile of vulnerability. The remaining 3 profiles fell within the continuum of the two extremes. A multivariate analysis of variance revealed that profiles differentially related to social competence. Results of this study revealed within group differences in resilience among economically-disadvantaged Hispanic American preschool children and the significant role of bilingualism in social development.
Subject Area
Developmental psychology|Early childhood education|Hispanic American studies
Recommended Citation
Oades-Sese, Geraldine Ventura, "The relationship among child resilient attributes, acculturation, bilingualism, and social competence of Hispanic American preschool children" (2006). ETD Collection for Fordham University. AAI3221681.
https://research.library.fordham.edu/dissertations/AAI3221681
